Sarah Green's Organics

Having lived in Southminster all my life, I have never been to Tillingham. Which is really only just down the road for me. Maybe I should go check the place out after reading about Sarah Green's Organics.

Over 30 acres of Soil Association registered farmland, Sarah is passionate about growing delicious organic, seasonal vegetables. All year round, she provides a variant supply of vegetables - from aubergines to onions, cabbages to courgettes, and many more.

Her farm can provide a natural habitat as all farming here is purely organic meaning no chemicals are used to kill weeds and insects. Careful planning means Sarah provides a varied range of seasonal produce on a weekly basis. Sarah's produce is available at Farm Shops, Stoke Newington Organic Farmers Market, London, first and third Saturday of the month 10am to 2.30pm and Burnham on Crouch Farmers Market (third Sunday of the month) Carnival Hall 9am to 12.30pm.

For more information, visit her website here.

Carter's Vineyards

Carter's Vineyards produce an extensive range of fine wine from the Essex Countryside. Though not quite Narnia, Carter's Vineyards is an enchanting place comprising of 40 acres of vines, wildflower meadows, lakes and woodlands.

Headed by Ben Bunting, Carter's Vineyards is run by a small group who share the passion for the vineyard and are committed to producing wine of only the highest quality. These wines include Carter's Sparkling Brut, Rose, King Coel, Colchester Rose and many more. These wines are the absolute surefire way to represent the very best wine of Colchester and East Anglia.

The wines produced have received a wide variety of awards. These include the King Coel 2003 being awarded the Gold Medal from the East Anglian Wine of the Year 2006 competition.

Wine can be purchased online and you can also pay visit to Carter's Vineyards and have a short tour to get an idea of their wine making process. There's even a tasting session.

For more information, click here.

Fairfields Farm Crisps

There's not much I can say about these crisps apart from they are absolutely amazing! Definitely some of the best crisps to get your hands on. Shame about the lack of Gary Lineker though.

Robert and Laura of Fairfields Farm love to make crisps. They create their crisps from the best potatoes in the Colne Valley. To stick to their natural roots as possible, they are grown on fertile ground and let mother nature do her bit. Each potato is then hand selected and washed, followed by a good old pan-frying in sunflower oil to ensure you only get the highest quality crisps.

Fairfields Farm produce a wide variety of crisp flavours. There are some extremely interesting takes on flavours such as the Smoky Bacon and Sunday Roast Potato flavour. For a full list and more info on the available flavours, check out their rather humourous website here.

Aspall Cyder

Though not a fond drinker of cider, I have an unhealthy addiction to vinegar. I will put it on almost anything and will happily drink it out of one of those bottles.

Here we have Aspall Cyder. Inherited in 1725, the Chevallier (currently in their eighth generation) continue to produce high quality cyder. Among cyder, they also produce a range of award winning apple juice and vinegars. Their product range has won over 20 awards since 2000. These awards include Worlds Best Cider, numerous Q awards and Soil Association Awards.

While uncommonly produced anymore, Aspall Cyder (yes, there is a difference between Cyder and Cider) is the only Cyder to ‘Supreme Winner’ at the International Beer and Cider Competition. Aspall's vinegar range is further boosted by wine vinegar imported from the Rioja region of Spain and balsamic vinegar imported from Modena, Italy.

Their apple juice is available through local stores, delicatessens, Tesco and Asda in the East Anglia region, and can also be found nationally in health food stores. Their cider can be found in supermarkets such as Sainsbury, Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose. For all you willing to go the distance, their cyder can even be purchased in Australia and on the west coast of America!

For more info, click here.

Shalford Brewery

This is for all you ale enthusiasts out there! No matter how slightly disturbing their fox mascot may look, Shalford Brewery has been brewing fine Essex Ales since July 2007 using only the best quality ingredients.

Nigel Lawes has been an ale enthusiast all of his adult life and is passionate about the process of brewing staying to the original method as close as possible. He uses the finest malt, hops and yeast to create interesting, different and traditional real ales for the discerning real ale drinker. Since commencing brewing, Shalford have been nominated and shortlisted for Champion Beer of Britain at the Great British Beer Festival 2008.

Shalford produce a range of Bottle Conditioned Beers like the Barnfield Bitter, Levelly Black and Rotten End (Im sure it's nicer than it sounds). The George Inn, the closest pub to the brewery stock draught Shalford beers. A range of bottled beers can also be purchased at these stores:

The Shalford Village Stores.
The Blue Egg Great Bardfield.
Greenstead Green Farm Shop.
Farmer Browns Farm Shop Mount Bures.
Lords Farm Shop.

For more information, click here.

The Original Rossi Ice Cream

I love Ice Cream. Growing up as a child, my dad would take me to the Southend Air Show every summer and he would always buy me a Rossi ice cream from one of the stalls. This was always my highlight more than actually seeing the aeroplanes fly past. They're one of the few UK makers of Ice Cream that still use fresh milk as opposed to powdered milk.

Originating back in 1932, Pietro and Luisa Rossi moved to Southend to start an Ice Cream business with a local family, also called Rossi. Unfortunately in 1937, the partnership dissolved but Pietro kept the business together with a small kiosk alongside the Westcliff Seafront.

The production of the Ice Cream halted during the war years but following a family reunon in 1946, business resumed in Southend. The 1950's and 60's saw the business flourish and an Ice Cream Factory was built to cope with demand. Nowadays, Rossi is now under new ownership but Ice Cream is still being produced to the same traditional recipe first introduced in 1932.

Rossi now produce a wide range of ice cream products from the simple tubs with a wide variety of flavours to Lemon Sorbet (which actually won an award for the UK's top lemon sorbet).

Rossi Ice Cream products can be bought from a range of retailers across the Anglia region and I seriously suggest at least trying them out. Better yet, if you are ever at some sort of event in the region like the Southend Air Show, you'll be sure there will be a Rossi stall somewhere.

Blackwells Farm Produce

Howard Blackwell has continued his family's tradition for the past 30 years in providing fresh geese and turkeys for the Christmas market. But recently his family have broadened their horizons with launching their own farm shop which has seen pleasing progress.

Since 2004, Blackwells Farm Produce have been servicing leading butchers and food halls with their high quality produced meat and poultry from turkey, chicken, goose, ham, beef, pork and many more.

This is not to mention the vast amount of fresh farm produce available at their local farm shop at Herons Farm , Coggeshall. This includes fruits, vegetables, cheeses and their very own homemade assortment of jam, preservatives and marmalade. More detail of the products on offer can be found on their site using the link below.

For all you couch potatoes, Blackwells Farm Produce bring something to the table that I personally find very cool. Online ordering of their stock. Think of it as the Dominos Pizza for farm produce.

For more information on their supply and even a recipe on how to cook a Three Bird Roast, click here.

Butterfly Lodge Dairy & Farm Shop

I've never been the person that drinks milk. I really cannot stand the stuff. Which is ironic considering as a child, I couldn't get enough of the stuff. But that's simply milk on it's own. I will easily have it within anything else, ice cream being my favourite.

Butterfly Lodge Dairy & Farm Shop consists of Warren and Ellie Goff who joined Ellie's parent's family business in 2000. Their specialty lies in their ice cream using the goats milk produced from their farmed goats. Warren's passion lies in ice cream and between them, he and Ellie have produced their own 'CAPRILATTE' Farmhouse Luxury Dairy Goats Milk Ice Cream.

Demand for this ice cream grew as it is a healthy alternative to the many cow-milk products. Since then, they've even produced 16 different flavours from Mexican Vanilla to Belgian Chocolate. The success of their ice cream has seen Warren and Ellie recieve two diplomas. Not only can you buy their ice cream at their own local farm shop, it has proven to be popular amongst many local pubs and restaurants.

Not only do they sell a wide variety of flavours of their famous ice cream. Goats meat is also on sale at their local farm shop. But unfortunately not in 16 flavours.

And now for something completely different, if you pay a visit to their farm shop, they even have a small post office for all your postal needs. Butterfly Lodge even won an award for the 'Most Unusual Innovative/Unusual Postal Office'.

Pay a visit to their site here.

New Barn Farm

From the depths of West Hanningfield comes New Barn Farm. Sporting a wide variety of produce like traditionally reared Dexter Beef and Gloucester Old Spot Pork, Bacon and Gammon.

Currently ran by couple Pauline and Trevor Robb since 2004, the initial plan was to use their land simply for their two horses to graze. But being inspired from a TV show, they decided to produce their own livestock. Beginning with cattle, they then moved on to chickens, pigs and finally sheep.

The Dexters produce beef of a high quality with excellent flavour with the cuts and joints being on a small scale. It doesn't stop there though. New Barn Farm produce 'old fashioned pork with excellent flavour and their local butcher who does the smoking and curing uses the traditional method. This is only the very basic on what New Barn Farm produce - with chickens, ducks, lamb and egg also being produced.

Their website, which can be accessed by clicking here, lists all their stock available in detail, their prices and even where you can buy live stock. I'd definitely check them out.

Kelly Bronze Turkeys

The common meat to have for a traditional Sunday roast is undoubtedly chicken but for those special occasions like Christmas or even Thanksgiving, you can't go wrong with Kelly Bronze and their range of turkeys.

Beginning in 1974, Derek Kelly chose turkey stock from Oregon focusing on it's eating qualities. He began rearing turkeys for Christmas, concentrating on the texture and taste of the meat. Since then, Kelly Bronze have gained worldwide acclaim for their top quality taste in turkeys.

Kelly Bronze have picked up many awards over the time including the 'BBCs Good Food Award for Specialty Food' and the 'British Turkey Best Speciality Product of the Year Award'. Even the founder, Derek Kelly was rewarded an MBE for his contribution to the Traditional Poultry Industry.

As well as turkey, Kelly Bronze also supply a range of beef and even turkey poults to other producers of christmas turkeys around the country.

I cannot recommend their turkeys enough and it really is something that has to be tasted to be believed.

For more information on where you can purchase these delicious turkeys, and even the optimum way on how to cook them, click here.

Telephone: 01245 223581
Fax: 01245 226124
Address:
Kelly Turkey Farms
Springate Farm
Bicknacre Road
Danbury
Essex
CM3 4EP

Tiptree Jam

I'm ashamed to admit that I have only discovered Tiptree Jam a year ago after a friend offered me a sandwich. Eating this, I was blown away by the amazing taste of Tiptree's strawberry jam. Since then, it has become my only choice of conserve to top my toast in the morning.

Produced locally in, you guessed it - Tiptree, Wilkins & Sons have been producing jam and other conserves that has become famous on a worldwide scale. Using either locally grown fruit from their own farms, other local growers or even sources from around the world, the fruit used in the jam is always at the highest quality. The fruit is even hand sorted before it reaches the boiling pots.

It's not just jam that Wilkin & Sons produce. Their products range from conserves to honey and marmalade to savouries like tomato ketchup, brown sauce and chutney.

If you're ever in the area I strongly recommend the tour of the Wilkin & Sons factory and the jam shop.

For more information on the products they produce and where they can be purchased, click here. You can even enter your postcode and the site will show the closest store where you can buy their yummy jam.

Telephone: 01621 815407
Email: tiptree@tiptree.com
Address:
Wilkin & Sons Limited,
Tiptree,
Essex
CO5 0RF

Maldon Salt

I don't know about you but one of the few things that can make a good meal better is the seasoning of salt. Growing up, Maldon Salt was always the first choice of seasoning in my family.

Producing this famous salt for the last 200 years, The Maldon Salt Company has attracted attention from some of the countries most famous and renowned chefs from Delia Smith to Jamie Oliver. Delia Smith has infact been a longtime supporter of Maldon Sea Salt and lists it among her essential ingredients.

Alongside salt, The Maldon Salt Company also produce organic black pepper.

For more information including example recipes of where this salt is used from chefs such as Delia Smith and where you can purchase this legendary seasoning, Click Here

Telephone: 01621 853315
Fax: 01621 858191
Email: info@maldonsalt.co.uk